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Monthly Archives: February 2011

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Overall Color for the Week: Dark Blue Green

This is, perhaps, a fitting week for the beginning of March, as the week will come in “like a Lion” bringing with it turmoil, confusion, tendencies towards anger and overreaction, as well as a lot of weather. There is nothing that will be the same anymore, so if you have been wanting to change your image, your clothes, cut your hair, scream out loud, find new friends, change…, go for it. The momentum is there, and the thoughts, opinions, and coercions of other are no longer quite so important. It is as though there is a new tune in the air, which is overshadowing the old music you always paid attention to. Both joy and fear will be themes this week, and, interestingly, one situation can evoke both reactions. This is a week in which you can truly choose which way it is that you are wanting to go. This is a time to keep your eyes and options open. Listen to your heart, Follow your intuition, and believe in the deepest core self of WHO you are. Continue reading →

Updated 18:01 24 February 2011 by Marcus Chown
Magazine issue 2801. Subscribe and save
Buried in the flood of data from the Kepler telescope is a planetary system unlike any seen before. Two of its apparent planets share the same orbit around their star. If the discovery is confirmed, it would bolster a theory that Earth once shared its orbit with a Mars-sized body that later crashed into it, resulting in the moon’s formation.

The two planets are part of a four-planet system dubbed KOI-730. They circle their sun-like parent star every 9.8 days at exactly the same orbital distance, one permanently about 60 degrees ahead of the other. In the night sky of one planet, the other world must appear as a constant, blazing light, never fading or brightening.

EASTERN BLAST: The quiet didn’t last long. Earth-orbiting satellites detected an M3-class solar flare at 0735 UT on Feb. 24th. The source was an active region located just behind the sun’s eastern limb. The eruption produced strong radio emissions, a coronal mass ejection (not Earth directed), and this spectacular picture taken by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory:
check out spaceweathr.com for pictures and movies of the event

The beginning of this year marked a time in which things would never be the same again. The previous weeks have given evidence to this fact, and this week can make this fact even clearer. There is a change in the air. In personal relationships, this week can bring some revelations and disillusions. This is a time in which it is important to be strong and centered in WHO you are, for it is your very core, your center, that will bring you through theses times with renewed power and vision. Take time in your outings this week to look around and appreciate the beauty of nature and the wonder of this world. Work with the energies of your heart. Intuition becomes more and more a factor as time goes by. There can be some nagging physical issues that come up this week. Take care of your body. Also, spend some time reviewing with these issues as knowing the source can give indications of larger things on other levels than just the physical. Continue reading →

ANOTHER X-FLARE–ALMOST: Fast-growing sunspot complex 1161-1162 erupted on Feb. 18th, producing an M6.6-class solar flare. The almost-X category blast was one of the strongest flares in years and continued the week-long trend of high solar activity. NOAA forecasters estimate a 75% chance of more M-flares during the next 24 hours.

WAVES OF IONIZATION: Waves of ionization are rippling through Earth’s upper atmosphere in response to the recent onslaught of solar flares. This affects the propagation of radio signals–suppressing some frequencies and boosting others. By monitoring distant transmitters at a frequency of 23.4 kHz, Rudolf Slosiar of Bojnice, Slovakia detected nearly a dozen sudden ionospheric disturbances (SIDs) on Feb. 18th:

…More waves of ionization are iin the offing as sunspot complex 1161-1162 continues to crackle with M-class solar flares.

Siding Spring Comet found by the WISE spacecraft. credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA

An old story got new legs this week as word went viral of a possible new 9th planet in our solar system – a gas giant bigger than Jupiter – which could be hiding somewhere in the Oort Cloud, just waiting to be found.

An article this week in The Independent suggested the new planet, called Tyche, had already been found among data from the WISE mission. This prompted the WISE team to post a rebuttal on their Facebook page: “Not true. A pair of scientists published a paper stating that if such a big planet exists in the far reaches of the Solar System, then WISE should have seen it. That is true. But, analysis over the next couple of years will be needed to determine if WISE has actually detected such a world or not.”

To make sense of this all, Universe Today sought out a scientist who has looked at the outer solar system as much as anyone, if not more: Mike Brown, of Eris, Haumea and Makemake fame – to get his take on Tyche.

To read more, go to:

About that Giant Planet Possibly Hiding in the Outer Solar System…by NANCY ATKINSON on FEBRUARY 16, 2011
Siding Spring Comet found by the WISE spacecraft. credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLAAn old story got new legs this week as word went viral of a possible new 9th planet in our solar system – a gas giant bigger than Jupiter – which could be hiding somewhere in the Oort Cloud, just waiting to be found.
An article this week in The Independent suggested the new planet, called Tyche, had already been found among data from the WISE mission. This prompted the WISE team to post a rebuttal on their Facebook page: “Not true. A pair of scientists published a paper stating that if such a big planet exists in the far reaches of the Solar System, then WISE should have seen it. That is true. But, analysis over the next couple of years will be needed to determine if WISE has actually detected such a world or not.”
To make sense of this all, Universe Today sought out a scientist who has looked at the outer solar system as much as anyone, if not more: Mike Brown, of Eris, Haumea and Makemake fame – to get his take on Tyche.
To read more, go to:

MAJOR FLARE: Earth-orbiting satellites have detected the strongest solar flare in more than four years. At 0156 UT on Feb. 15th, giant sunspot 1158 unleashed an X2-class eruption. X-flares are the strongest type of x-ray flare, and this is the first such eruption of new Solar Cycle 24. The explosion that produced the flare also sent a solar tsunami rippling through the sun’s atmosphere and, more importantly, hurled a coronal mass ejection toward Earth. This raises the possibility of geomagnetic storms in the days ahead. Visit http://spaceweather.com for images and updates.